Where Rubber Meets Road
John Dunlop invented the rubber tire in 1888. Only after that could the idiom, “where the rubber meets the road,” get its start. The phrase refers to a place where something gets put to the test.
In Uvalde, Texas, Continental Tire owns a 5,000-acre proving ground where the rubber literally meets the road. The site has a wet-handling pad, a multi-surfaced pavement for ride evaluation, and a lane to check hydroplaning. How do the tires perform when put under demanding road conditions? What strengths and weaknesses come to light?
Where is the proving ground for faith? How does the God who tested Abraham, the man of faith, put our faith to the test? Marriage, for sure. Parenting, yes. And—without question—the workplace. It offers ideal conditions for the trial of faith.
Why does the workplace serve so well as God’s proving ground? Because “the daily grind,” like a volcano, keeps erupting with fresh challenges, temptations, stresses, baffling issues, and other cans of worms.
For example, let’s imagine that you . . .
. . . have worked as a fingerprint technician in a state law enforcement agency for ten years. Your performance reviews have always been stellar. When your supervisor retires, the director fills the position with an outsider who contributed to the governor’s campaign fund. How will you respond?
. . . are working as an accountant for a CPA and do free-lance bookkeeping as a side business. During tax season, when your clients need more attention, you stretch your lunch hour to spend time with them on Zoom calls—using company equipment and time to do so.
. . . promised your family a day at the beach when the weather gets warm. Friday morning you see that the forecast promises sun all day. So you call in sick, even though you are feeling just fine.
. . . have been going through a rough patch in your marriage. As it happens, a charming coworker has begun spending more and more time around your desk. You are beginning to find this person highly attractive. Then your company sends both of you to the same out-of-town conference.
Temptations in the world of work began long ago. The world’s first temptation came in a garden workplace. Adam and Eve must often have passed that tree in the middle of the garden—the one with its off-limits fruit. But after the tempter planted doubt about God’s integrity, the fruit looked far more appealing. And, in the end, both people in that workplace gave in.
The world’s second recorded temptation also took place in a workplace. When God did not accept the fruit from his farm as an offering, Cain took offense. His anger boiled over against his brother, whose offering from the fruits of his labor was accepted. Even though warned by God that he must rule over the sin “crouching” at his door, Cain—in the workplace of his field—caved and murdered Abel.
Today, because of God’s faithfulness to us in Christ, we can see the trials of life in the workplace in a whole new light. As James explains, we are to “Consider it pure joy . . . whenever you face trials of many kinds.” Why? “Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” And perseverance—by carrying out its task—leads us on to maturity and completeness (James 1:2-4).
James then proceeds to say: “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12).
In Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, Eugene Peterson says: “I am prepared to contend that the primary location for spiritual formation is the workplace” (p. 127). Why “the primary” location? Don’t other settings also contribute to our spiritual growth? Yes, but the workplace is especially suited as a proving ground for faith—where the rubber meets the road.
